Peter Lupus (born June 17, 1932) is an American bodybuilder and actor.[1] He attended the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University, where he also played football and basketball, graduating in 1954. He and his wife, Sharon, have a son, Peter Lupus III, who is also an actor. Lupus is of Greek descent.

Lupus was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. The character of Willy Armitage was the strong, silent type, usually with very little dialogue. Late in the show's run during season five, the producers decided his character was superfluous and he was dropped to recurring status, appearing in a little over half of that season's episodes. Fan outcry and the lack of success in finding a replacement for his character resulted in his return to regular status the following season and getting a greater role in the stories, often assuming roles as a convict or thug. Only Lupus and Greg Morris sustained a regular role through the show's entire run, although Morris appeared in more episodes.

Lupus was as one of the first well-known male actors to pose with full frontal nudity for Playgirl magazine, in April 1974. Photographs of Lupus would appear in a number of issues. Before this he was hired by the US Air Force to appear in a series of commercials playing the role of Superman (with the permission of what is now DC Comics). He appeared for many months until the Playgirl pictorial was published.[5]

On July 19, 2007, at age 75, Lupus set a world weightlifting endurance record by lifting 77,560 pounds over the course of 24 minutes, 50 seconds at the Spectrum Club in El Segundo, California.[6] This topped the record Lupus set five years earlier in celebration of his 70th birthday of 76,280 pounds in 27 minutes.[7]